Portable mortar container



May 28, 1957 K. M. LYSNE PORTABLE MORTAR CONTAINER Filed Nov. 4, 1954 MVM United States Patent PORTABLE MORTAR CONTAINER Kenneth M. Lysne, Blooming Prairie, Minn. Appiicaaon November 4,1954, serial No'. 466,808

Claims. (Cl. 220-69) This invention relates to a container for mortar and the like, and more particularly to a transportable container for carrying and dispensing mortar.

It is an important object of the invention to provide an open-topped container which is simple and economical in design yet which will lend itself to easy transportation and dispensing of mortar and the like.

lt is another object of the invention to provide avcon-V tainer for mortar which will have a narrow bottom structure associated with abutment surfacesfor suspension of the entire container on the forks of a lift truck, said bottom structure also providing a rest support to facilitate dispensing of mortar and the like from either side of the container when positioned on the ground.

Another object of the invention is to provide a con-A tainer of the class described which is designed so as to. be balanced and permit manual tilting from side to side of a quantity of mortar normally having such great weight as to be incapable of moving manually.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will more fully appear from Ythe following descrip' ltion made in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like referencercharacters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the views, and in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of my container with mortar therein placedin balanced and upright position on the ground as immediately preceding or following transportation; and

Fig.v 2 isa front elevation of my mortar container manually tilted to the left for dispensing of mortar, the dotted line position showing the disposition of the container when manually tilted to the right for dispensing of mortar from the opposite side.

With continued reference to the drawing, my container is shown in perspective in Fig. l, and has a general upright peripheral wall structurel@ whichV defines an enclosed and waterproof side structure for the container. I prefer a rectangular structure such that ya pair of upright spaced walls 11 and 12 define the front and rear of the container respectively, and a pair of side Walls 13 and 14 define the sides of the container. The junctures of all the upright walls are in upstanding edges or corners 15 which, of course, may be sharply defined or smoothly contoured as desired. Each of the side walls 13 and 14 is provided with a handle 16 and 17 respectively.

The bottom wall of the container is designated generally at 18 and comprises a medial horizontal area 19 which extends substantially from the front wall 11 to the rear wall 12. The medial area 19 is preferably positioned in exact symmetrical relationship so that the container will be exactly balanced when it is supported on a horizontal surface 20, as shown in Fig. l. It will be further noted that the horizontal medial area underlies substantially the entire distance from front to back of the container but only underlies a portion of the total bottom area encompassed by the width of the container from the '2,793,788 Patented May 28, 1957 Y f z s left side, wall 13 to the right side wall 14, as shown in Figs. l and 2. Y

Adjacent the horizontal medial bottom area 19 are abutment areas 21 in upwardly spaced relation with the plane of the `horizontal medial area and designed .to receive in underlying relation the fork of a lift truck (not shown) so that theventire container, together with mortar 22, may be supported in balanced relation thereon for easy transportation. The abutment areas 2 1 thus form recesses for contacting the fork of a lift truck and preferably are horizontally positioned so that the supported weight will be evenly distributed during transportation on a lift truck. The recessed ork abutment areas join with the bottom medial area 19 in a continuous watertight relationship to form an edge 23 at the left, and, where a two-way tilting relation is desired, as will be more fully set forth below, a second edge 24 is formed to the right, asv shown in Figs. l and 2. i

In side relationship with the bottom medial area 19 is atleast oneandpreferably twoupwardly angulated and downwardly facing areas 25 and 26 respectively. These upwardly angulated areas also form a portion of the container bottom and underlie the useful space withinV the container in which mortar 22 is placed. The angle of the upwardly facing areas 25 an'd 26 may vary somewhat but is preferably 45 degrees or' less, so that the height of mortar 22 may be carried reasonably high without spilling the contents when the container is tilted. The upwardly angulated areas 25 and 26 are preferably plane and, in tilted relation of the container as in Fig. 2,.

are, designed to lie in horizontal contact with the sup? porting surface 20. When thus positioned, theplane of the upwardly angulated area 25 shown in full line in Fig. 2, will have the straight edge 23 in the same plane therewith so as to simultaneously contact the ground or supporting surface 20 when in the tilted position shown. Similarly, when the container is rocked vto the right, as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the edge 24 will lie in the same plane as upwardly angulated area 26 and will be in simultaneous contact with the supporting surface 20 as shown.

The use and utility of my invention will be evident from the foregoing description. The container is maintained in upright position as in Fig. 1 While-mortar 22 is being unloaded therein from a suitable source adjacent the project in which the mortar is to beemployed. yA lift truck having standard fork construction then is utilized in the conventional manner to carry the container, it,

being necessary only to insert the fork beneath the container with a leg supporting one surface of each of the I recessed areas 21. .It is, of course, presumed that the downwardly facing areas of the recesses 21 are in sufficient clearance with the supporting surface 20 as to permit the fork to be inserted thereunder. The llift truck is then transported together with the container and mortar to its dispensing location, and it is again placed on the ground or supporting surface 20 in the position shown in Fig. l, and the lift truck is withdrawn therefrom. The container is especially adapted to use by two masons so that the mortar may be easily dispensed alternatively at either side. The handle 16 may be pulled downwardly so as to tilt the container and mortar to the left as shown in Fig. 2, and it is not necessary to apply a great deal of effort toward effecting the tilting operation since the edge 23 is not a great distance horizontally away from the vertical plane through the center of gravity. Since the plane of the upwardly angulated bottom surface 25 includes the edge 23, there will be little jarring or strain on the container and a total weight of mortar way in excess of that which can be physically lifted may be easily handled by the masons or their helpers. The level of the mortar 22, of course, will shift to the dotted line position shown in,

l 3 Fig. 2 and the open top of the container will be angulated along withthe container so as to make it easy for the mortar to be removed from the left as shown in full line position .in Fig. 2. When a workman .desiresto remove mortar from the 1"i'ght,the container is tilted to dotted line position by ,meansof the handlei17. The open-v topped angulation then favors dispensing of mortar to a position at the rightof the container, as shown in Fig. 2.'`

It will `be observed, that the recesses 21 are so designed as .to cooperatively 'form means for inserting. the fork of a lift truck radjacent each juncture ofthe upwardly angulated bottom areas '2S and 26l withl respect to the medial bottom area 19.. 'Iher'bottom area 1'8 has not been so diminished as 'to create -a hazard 'because of instability nor have theV areas 25 ,and A26 "been so angulated or positioned as to rendery difcult the .tilting operation.

It will thus be seen that I have devised a simple container structure which vis capable of easy transportation on a lift truckk andat the same time, can be positioned and tilted toA one side of its upright position even though `a large quantity of mortar be placed within the container. The foregoing is made possible through the special bottom structure of the container which has been cheaply and simply formed while maintaining an easily cleaned inner area.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form,v details, arrangement and .proportions of the various parts without departing from the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. A container for transporting and dispensing mortar and the like comprising, an upright peripheral wall delining an enclosed side structure of the container, a bottoni wall having a lower horizontal medial area for sustaining said container and mortar in substantially vertical position on a 'fiat supporting surface, a pair of dov/rwardly facing spaced abutment areas positioned upwardly from said horizontal medial area, one at each side thereof, for supportably receiving the fork of a lift truck, said bottom Wall further having an upwardly angulated area outwardly of at least one of said abutment areas for sustaining said container in upright and tilted relation to one side of said substantially vertical position.

2. A container for transporting and dispensing mortar and the like comprising, a pair of upright spaced walls defining the front and rear of the container, a pair of upright spaced walls defining the sides of the container and respectively joined in vertical edgewise relation to the front and rear walls, a bottom wall having a lower horizontal medial area for sustaining said container in substantially vertical `position on a fiat supporting surface, a pair of downwardly facing spaced abutment areas positioned upwardly from said horizontal medial area, one at each side thereof, for supportably receiving the fork of a lift truck, said bottom wall further having an upwardly arcanes angulated area in side relation to said horizontal medial area lfor sustaining said container in upright and tilted relation to one side of said substantially vertical position.

3. A container for transporting and dispensing mortar and the like comprising, an upright peripheral Wall defining an enclosed side structure of the container, a bottom wall having a medial horizontal portion for sustaining said container and mortar in substantially vertical position on a fiat supporting surface, an `upwardly and outwardly angled area forming another portion of said bottom Wall disposed Vto one side -of said horizontal medial area and Vanother upwardly and outwardly angled area disposed at the other side of said horizontal medial area, and a fork-receiving recess formed intermediate the medial horizontal area and each of the respective upwardly and outwardly angled areas.

4. A container for transporting and dispensing mortar and the like comprising, an upright peripheral wall dening an enclosed side structure of the container, a bottom wall having a lower horizontal area extending substantially across the wall structure in front-to-back relation and underlying but a portion of the container in side-toside relation, an upwardly angled area `forming a portion of the bottom wall and positioned to one side of the horizontal bottom area, a second upwardly angled area positioned to the other side of said horizontal bottom area, and a fork-receiving recess formed adjacent the interconnection between each of said upwardly angled areas and the lower horizontal area.

5. A container for transporting and dispensing mortar and the like comprising, an upright peripheral wall delining an enclosed side structure of the container, a bottom wall having a lower horizontal medial area terminating edgewise in a tilting edge and sustaining said container and mortar in substantially vertical position on a flat supporting surface, said bottom wall further having at least one support area positioned upwardly and to the side of said horizontal medial area, said support area lying in the same plane with said tilting edge, and a pair of upwardly olf-set abutments formed transversely of the container in the bottom wall, one outwardly of each side of the medial area and providing support for cradling on the fork of a lift truck, whereby said container with its contents may be transported on a lift fork, rested in stable contact with its medial area upon a supporting surface, and tilted about its tilting edge to a new stable rest position for easy access to the contents thereof.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,048,543 Kahlenberg Dec. 31, 1912 1,301,694 Healy Apr. 22, 1919 2,489,054 Sprolle Nov. 22, 1949 

